


It Gets Better

by innusiq



Category: Social Network (2010)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-03-25
Updated: 2012-03-25
Packaged: 2017-11-02 12:46:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,567
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/369120
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/innusiq/pseuds/innusiq
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Written for a tsn_kinkmeme prompt:  "inspired by <a href="http://dinwos.levicorpus.com/post/17996085478">this</a> Creep Radiohead Cover, by Scala & Kolacny Brothers.  Can we have a post deposition Mark saying <a href="http://30.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lz8886PCIg1qi98gto1_r2_500.gif">this</a> <i>A therapist told me once... I was so sad, she said, 'you deserve to be happy'</i>.  Maybe in some interview or maybe he participated in something like It Gets Better or anything.  I just want him to say that on camera and I want Chris, Dustin, and Eduardo to see it. They've always known better than the general public that Mark is actually a person who has feelings and they witnessed him being sad but they didn't know just how until they see the interview/video/Mark randomly telling a crying kid and being overheard. idk i just want some ot4 lovin' focused on Mark. PLEASE :'("</p>
            </blockquote>





	It Gets Better

**Author's Note:**

> The video link within this fiction is fake.

To: brazillian; pressguy  
From: destroyer  
Subject: HE'S A REAL BOY!!!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6IcWyvg3Qlo

The Email came in at the end of day, addressed to Chris and himself, and only contained a video link with no further indication as to the video's subject or the actual point Dustin was trying to make (aside from the typical, juvenile, Dustin subject line). Eduardo sighs, debating between viewing the link _now_ , or closing up and calling it a night, and waiting until morning when he is back in the office to view whatever insanity Dustin felt compelled to share. Praying just once that he won't regret it in the end, Eduardo shoots off a quick initial reply to the Email that simply states, _You really need to update you contact list, man_ , before clicking on the link provided. He is just getting settled back in his desk chair, holding out hope the video won't take long, when Mark's face pops up on Eduardo's computer screen and he finds himself sitting at rigid attention, unable to look away.

"Um... Hi, um yeah, hi, my name is Mark Zuckerberg, I'm... I'm gay, and I just wanted to let you know... It does... It does get better... I think..." 

There is a pause in whatever Mark was about to say, the normally cool and calculating eyes taking on a more intimidated uncertainty as they dart left and right while he bites his lower lip, thinking, or perhaps mustering up the courage to open up to a million people he doesn't know or who otherwise probably wouldn't really care what a billionaire had to say about claiming to _understand_ , because really, what could possibly suck about Mark Zuckerberg's life? How could _he_ possibly _understand_?

"I wasn't always the popular kid among my classmates, not in elementary school, not in middle school, and definitely not in high school (unless someone needed tutoring). Admittedly, I didn't know I was gay back then... Well, I assume I probably was... I just, there were more important things going on then, I didn't have time..." Mark stops to clear his throat. "Even so, I was always the kid who couldn't wait for it to all be over. I couldn't wait until I graduated so I could leave a town that really didn't do or have anything to offer me (aside from my family), and get to Harvard. There was no question that was where I was going, based on my intelligence and grade point average alone, and when I finally got there, my parents dropping me off, leaving me on my own for the first time in my still young life, it felt like the world was mine to discover and experience and finally enjoy for once, finally be accepted not for who I was but for what I had to offer."

Mark pauses again to snort derisively, head shaking back and forth in a gesture telling of how wrong his youthful assumptions (dreams) had been.

"College... No... University, disappointingly, was no different from High School and Grade School, no matter the school's name or its prestigious noble history. I was still the last person anyone wanted to associate with for group projects, and was known prevalently around campus as the _computer-genius-asshole_ with the personality of a robot. Yes, I heard it all, I always heard it all. No one was ever quiet about what they thought of me."

Mark takes a deep breath, releasing it quietly, slowly, eyes looking down, probably at his hands twisting in his lap.

"I did have friends though, there are always people willing to take pity on the outcasts, but no, that's not right. I did have friends, at Harvard, real friends, yeah," he stops again, and looks straight into the webcam before continuing. "I may not have said it, I know I never did, before, or at least not in words they would have understood, but my friends, back at Harvard, they were each my best friend in their own way. My conscience who thought I was ignoring him, but I was always listening, paying attention more than I let on. My conspirator who was more like a little brother to me than just a roommate. My caretaker, the one who ensured my basic survival without ever receiving anything in return, no questions asked, without even being asked, the one I took most for granted, the person..."

Mark's voice catches, breaking apart, the uncontrolled reaction making the man look unsettled and jittery. Mark clears his throat before continuing.

"He is the reason... Well, not really the reason I am doing this, but, the catalyst. Even if this confession is what they say is a day late and a dollar short, he was the one, if you believe in there being _one_ person you are _meant to be with_ ," Mark stops again, to take stock of what's been said, what he's admitted to, and what more there is. "A therapist once told me I deserve to be happy... I don't know if I believe her, I know I didn't at the time, but I kept waiting, thinking one day maybe... Maybe today he will forgive me. Maybe today I will deserve to be happy. Maybe..."

Mark looks up at the camera again, as if he can see each and every person who will view and has viewed the video, eyes keeping contact with his invisible audience, and Mark begins speaking again. "I have a good life: a career I was born for, my health, my family... It my not be perfect, and I may be a workaholic, and my best friend now of days is a four-legged mop, but it's a good life, and... I'm still waiting for happiness, but what I have now is better than my past, and the only thing I can do is continue waiting for it to get even better, because otherwise, they win. All those people who called me _asshole_ , who were all really just _assholes_ themselves, if I don't keep waiting, they will get the last word, they will win, and that is simply not acceptable. I'll keep waiting..."

Mark trails off and nods firmly, clearing his throat again before adding one last statement, eyes boring into Eduardo's own.

"I'll keep waiting, Wardo."

The video ends there, and all Eduardo can do is stare at his computer screen, silently questioning how he'd left reality and come to live in a world where Mark... 

A return reply from Dustin pops up on his screen, distracting Eduardo from his previous thought. When he opens it, the Email simply reads, _I calls thems as I sees thems_. There's no mention of the video, or questions about his reaction, which is probably best since Eduardo doesn't even know how he feels, aside from possibly feeling like it's too little, too late.

Eduardo jumps when his cell phone rings in his pocket. He answers it on autopilot, not really registering he's picking up until the slightly panicked and worried voice on the other end of the line is speaking.

"Did you know anything about this?"

It's Chris of course, asking a question he already knows the answer to since Eduardo is the last person on Earth Mark would discuss something like this with. Actually, based in this video and hindsight, he's probably the only one Mark would feel comfortable enough to discuss such a decision, if they were talking.

"You do realize you no longer work for Facebook and cleaning up after Mark is no longer part of your job description, right?"

"Wardo," Chris breathes out heavily, frustration clear. "Don't be obtuse. He's my _friend_. It's in my right to worry. _Someone_ has to."

The accusation in Chris' voice is clear, and again he doesn't understand (never understood) why everyone always expects him to turn the other cheek and forgive without even being asked for said forgiveness. Why did _he_ always have to be the bigger man?

"Wardo," Chris says sternly. "He made a video, an _It Gets Better_ video, for you and shared it with the world. He's not perfect, but if this isn't trying in your books, I'll be sure to remember never to cross you."

"Chris, that's not..."

"Not fair? No, nothing in this was ever fair, Wardo, but sometimes we have to let things go if we ever really want to find happiness. Can you honestly say, without a shadow of doubt, that you are happy?"

Eduardo's throat is tight, leaving him unable to speak.

"Wardo," Chris continues in a more kind and understanding voice. "You deserve to be happy, too. Listen, I have to go. I have ten obnoxious Emails sitting in my inbox, and I better nip this now before Dustin becomes even more unbearable. Think about it though, okay?"

Eduardo placates Chris for now, appreciating his friendship, knowing his friend means well, and has always been the voice of reason within their group of four. Eduardo sits in his office, halfway across the globe from Palo Alto, contemplating, remembering, all the good and bad blood of the past, and what his life _post_ Facebook has been like, and still comes up empty. Empty... 

Sitting up, Eduardo pokes around his computer, pulling up his webcam and stares at his own image a moment before taking a deep breath, and pressing the record button, making a decision.

"Hi. My name is Eduardo Saverin..."


End file.
